As an organization, one of the most important things is to maintain the institutional knowledge. Institutional knowledge are all the things that people across the organization have gotten to know throughout their time with the organization. Without a proper way to centralize and maintain the knowledge, organizations risk losing critical information when personnel inevitably changes.
This is especially true in the realm of economic development because the risk is two-folds; not only would a local government risk losing years of accumulated knowledge from a departing staff, the same risk exists if a business owner/employee changes and the person taking over is left with little context as to what had been previously discussed.
To minimize the disruptions of changing personnel and not lose the institutional knowledge is a key reason why a business relationship management tool is a must-have. With one central platform where all past interactions and touch-points reside, you, any of your staff members, or any future staff members, would always be able to see the history of what happened with each business.
For example, "you can say internally this is the same business that reached out to us six months ago for assistance. You may know that, but no one else may know that... so it could just be background information." Samira Cook Gaines, Economic Development Manager, City of Takoma Park, MD. When Jessica Cole, Head of Innovation and Economic Development, was departing from City of Walnut Creek, she made sure to jog down in Bludot all the conversations and projects she had worked on with local businesses so the new Economic Development Manager can pick up exactly where she left off. Having a system like this is key for any local government or economic development agency that want to set the foundation of a robust and enduring organizational practice.
To view the complete videos from our city partners sharing tips and examples of how they are using Bludot, click here.